Ismelda Murk (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery)
Ismelda Murk was a witch who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1984 and was sorted into Slytherin.3 Biography Hogwarts years (1984–1991) Third year Ismelda took at least Care of Magical Creatures and Divination as an elective.45 During the 1986–1987 school year, she, along with fellow Slytherin Barnaby Lee, joined Merula Snyde on her search for the Cursed Vaults. When Barnaby asked his associates' opinion on what the next Cursed Vault could contain, Ismelda hoped it to be "something that could bring the Dark Lord back".3 Ismelda accompanied Merula to confront Jacob's sibling, Tulip Karasu, Barnaby, and another of their friends at the entrance of the Restricted Section, hoping to beat them to get into the next Cursed Vault first. When Jacob's sibling beat Merula over a fair duel, Ismelda fired Everte Statum out of the blue, which would have hit Jacob's sibling had Barnaby not jumped out to take the hit. Ismelda showed no remorse about harming her former ally, and when Barnaby refused to back down, she stated he could suffer with his new friends. Both Ismelda and Merula were then held back by Barnaby while the others entered the Restricted Section to figure out how to gain entry to the next vault.6 Fourth year Fifth year Sixth year In her sixth year, Ismelda started hanging out with Beatrice Haywood.7 The two spent time tossing Puffskeins.8 Personality and traits Ismelda was generally a mean-spirited and even cruel young witch, saying that she would "cast the killing curse on the first Gryffindor" she would see,9 or coming up with the idea to torture Jacob's sibling with the Cruciatus Curse in order to obtain information about the Cursed Vaults.10 She was overheard telling Merula Snyde that she once had a jar of Muggle blood that dried out,9 and gleefully voiced her hope that she would see Professor Silvanus Kettleburn "lose his other eye this year."11 It is unknown, however, how many of these sentiments are her actual opinions or feelings, or if she said them merely for shock value. She also appeared to sympathise with the ideals of Lord Voldemort, as she sometimes voiced support for his extreme beliefs in the importance of pure-blood supremacy and her apparent support for the usage of the Dark Arts. That being said, Ismelda wasn't entirely unsympathetic; she had a soft spot for dogs (in contrast to her general predilection towards cruelty), and seemed to value her friendship with Merula Snyde. She also had a romantic attraction to the third member of their trio, Barnaby Lee, and though she reacted poorly to his wishing to remain friends with her, could be persuaded to eventually accept his decision. Finally, although often antagonistic towards Jacob's Sibling, Ismelda was nonetheless willing to be their date for the Celestial Ball if asked (and claimed she didn't "want to be unpleasant" towards them despite rarely being kind to them). She was also willing to help them humiliate Rita Skeeter, albeit more for the chance to work mischief than sympathy for their plight. Finally, Ismelda had a sense of inferiority as a result of living in the shadow of her older sister, who had achieved great success as a student and so was showered with love and attention from their parents at Ismelda's expense. This parental neglect prompted Ismelda to begin acting out in the hopes of getting more attention, thus explaining somewhat her behavior in general. Magical abilities and skills * History of Magic: Before the O.W.L. for the subject, Ismelda had shown her expertise in the subject due a study session with Jacob's sibling and Badeea Ali. Despite falling asleep in lessons like many others, she fell asleep due to her already knowing the subject so well, which matched her love for bloodshed and gore. * Care of Magical Creatures: Ismelda took this subject as an elective in her third year, showing she had a reasonable degree of skill and interest in Magizoology. However, she merely took the class to find out the weaknesses of magical creatures, so that she could either kill them, or capture them to kill others. * Potions: While her skills were not quite as proficient as Merula Snyde in the art of potion-making, she loved to produce Weedosoros, a potent poison which she learned how to concoct in Potions class. * Duelling: Whilst she was not as skilled a duellist as her friend Merula, she was still fairly competent in martial magic, being able to cast a variety of offensive spells which would cause significant damage to her opponent in duels. She was known to have been able cast a particularly strong Everte Statum, an offensive spell very useful in duelling. * Dark Arts: Ismelda was reasonably skilled with dark magic, as she could successfully cast a number of dark charms, such as the hex Densaugeo and the Curse of the Bogies, the latter of which she even taught to Jacob's sibling. Possessions * Wand: Ismelda owned a wand, which was of an unknown length, wand wood and core material. She presumably purchased her wand from Ollivanders in Diagon Alley, London, before starting her first year at Hogwarts in 1984. * Diary: Ismelda owned her own personal diary, which she wrote in to record her personal experiences and events throughout her school life. It also detailed her romantic crush on her friend Barnaby Lee. Etymology Ismelda is a name of German or Germanic12 origin, meaning "she who battles with sword."13 Murk is an Americanized or Germanised14 spelling of the following, with the majority of them meaning "dark:" Old English mirce, Proto-Germanic *merkuz, and Proto-Indo-European *merg-''. It also cognate with various languages with the meaning of "dark," including Danish and Norwegian ''mørk, Swedish mörk, and Icelandic myrkur.15 Appearances * Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (First appearance) Category:2010s Category:Brunette Category:Video Game Villainess